I have a number of interviews coming up. I am really excited to have the opportunity to speak to experienced stakeholders. It is bound to be one engaging and informing discussion after another.

Get ready for a flood of quality content in the latter half of next week.

I have done my best to think up intriguing questions. They are all based on direct input from our preliminary research and direct industry stakeholder input, like this. But I'm still new to the interview game. So if you have ideas or are burning for answers, please send them to us!

If you could pick the brain of an emerging market expert, what would you ask?

If you need some inspiration, here are some tried and true questions (and answers).

It's our first attempt at supplementing an audio call with powerpoint presentations and a full minute-by-minute note-guide. We are very eager to improve and should have a version with improved sound quality up by tomorrow. Your comments and thoughts are encouraged.

FREE On-Demand Webinar - Alok Kumar discusses what is required for generics success in India, and the world.

Some of Merck's other innovative initiatives, such as the one below, present very interesting soft opportunities that will also benefit rising executives in emerging markets. And not just in job-specific technical roles. Access to the seasoned experiences of others is something that we predicate our own business on (see: interviews with experts) and another hidden benefit of globalization.

Our own primary research identified this as an obvious concern. But we also found there is lots that pharma is doing to boost revenues, outside of developing, manufacturing, and distributing new drugs. India and other emerging markets present an incredibly exciting opportunity to leverage existing products and increase brand awareness in high-growth areas. Partnerships and in-licensing agreements allow for increased reach. But problems about effective partner selection and management remain.

What's more, as the cost of doing business continues to rise, leading organizations will adapt and find flexible solutions to lower the cost of sale, our survey respondents concurred. Clinical trial outsourcing, contract manufacturing, and business process outsourcing are all being utilized by top industry contenders to keep padded, to the utmost extent.

We mentioned it yesterday, and in our conversations with on the ground experts, it's unanimous. While the Indian market has some maturing to do in the course of the next 10 years, it is a great place to start building a base today. And is very effectively positioned to leverage other emerging markets and BRIC countries. Don't take our word for it though: Dr Reddy's inks pact with Russian firm R-Pharm.

'"The agreement allows us to bring innovative medicines to the Russian people with active collaboration of a local pharmaceutical company-R Pharm ," Dr Reddy's MD and COO Satish Reddy said.'

And it's no wonder that Indian players are looking to make intelligent acquisitions with their cash filled coffers. The Indian pharmaceutical market continues to grow at a robust rate. And although external respondents identified currency inflation as a concern - nascent government intervention notwithstanding - this article clearly states that inflation is medicine is much less than other essential goods and services.

Time to brew another cup or two of coffee, before getting back with more news, as it breaks.

Before getting too wrapped up (pun intended!) with holiday fun and festivities, we have a few a little more information to share. It's going to take more than a jolly man in a red suit to tear me away from sharing information about all of the exciting overseas happenings.

The smells currently wafting out of the kitchen might give me a run for my money though... But as we said last week, it's easy to work when you enjoy what you do.

Finally, there is a thorough review of annual M&A activity, which sees life science companies poised to expand their already firm reach into attractive emerging (emerged?) markets. The Indian market still has over 10,000 small companies vying for 70% of market share; inevitably, much consolidation remains to be done. Some concerns remain about the access to affordable health care and medicine, given the nature of the acquisitions stakeholders (big pharma, namely). But nevertheless, consensus is that growth prospects remain strong. And the aforementioned LiveMint.com article provides a number of complementary predictions about the size of the budding Indian pharmaceutical market that are nothing short of exciting.

I will spend the rest of the weekend preparing our follow-up telephone interview with Dr. Alok Kumar (you can see the original here). It was an intriguing conversation that delved deeply into topics that prior respondents identified as mission critical for their BRIC initiatives. This includes the intricacies of what it takes to be successful (read: profitable) in a domestic product launch, as well as differences between pharmaceutical opportunities in India and China, not to mention a myriad other important issues. Stay tuned for this. It will be posted early next week.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. We appreciate it. And wish you a happy, safe, holiday season!